SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The CSUSB baseball team defeated Saint Martin's on Friday afternoon, winning the hit-fest by a score of 10-7. The Yotes are now 4-0 on the season and are one of four teams in the CCAA without a loss.
The offense shined in the series opener, recording 16 total hits with four extra-base hits. The Yotes and Saints traded blows with four lead-changes, all of which occurred in the first four innings of the game. After the game became tied in the bottom of the fourth by a
Takuto Kataoka RBI double,
Giovanni Del Negro hit a 2-run home run to left field to give the Yotes a 6-4 lead – one they would hold onto for the rest of the game.
The Saints, however, did not back down easy as they slowly chipped away to bring the lead within one in both the fifth and seventh innings. With the momentum on their side, CSUSB came up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Garrett Macias, who collected three hits in the game, got on base with a single through the left side. With no outs, catcher
Jake Borst sent a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right center field to give the Yotes some much needed insurance runs late in the game. Closer
Oscar Rauda came in and shut the door, striking out three batters to earn his second save of the season. Rauda ranks second in program history with 15 careers saves, trailing only Josh Pond (2011-12) with 21.
Luke Hempel started the game on the mound for the Yotes, giving up three earned runs with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
John Pfeffer came in relief, throwing 2.2 innings while striking out four and picking up his first win of the 2023 campaign.
Josh Sandoval also made an appearance out of the pen, throwing 2.0 innings in his first appearance wearing the blue & black.
Though the season is young, CSUSB leads the CCAA in many offensive categories including: hits (55), average (.385), and slugging percentage (.622). They also rank third-lowest in strikeouts (15) while placing second in runs scored (44) and home runs (9).
Up Next
The Yotes and Saints will play a doubleheader tomorrow, February 11
th, with the first game beginning at 12:00 PM. The series finale will take place on Sunday, February 12
th, with first pitch set for 11:00 AM. You can purchase tickets
here or catch the action on the CCAA Network at
ccaanetwork.com.
